Here are 4 questions to Joe Walsh COO SquareLoop :

Can you tell us more about the service?
provides the next generation mobile messaging technology that enables the geographic targeting based on the actual location of the phone. Unlike other location-based services technologies, SquareLoop’s Mobile Alert Network does not need to track the movements of subscribers so we can maintain the subscriber’s location privacy. The patented approach allows us to maintain subscriber location privacy while delivering messages based on current or past location. This type of service is crucial for emergency communication (e.g., delivering warning messages to everyone in the vicinity of a restaurant that is found to be contaminated with E. coli.)

We are applying our technology to critical communications, content delivery and mobile marketing. We started deploying the service in the United States for critical communications for governments, universities and corporations to send emergency messages to their constituents. We spent a great deal of time talking with emergency managers to develop a set of features that are required for an effective emergency notification system – building on top of the geographic targeting. We have incorporated a number of these features including sender defined alert tones, longer text, rich media (including graphics and audio) as well as rapid response capabilities.

We are now moving into content distribution and mobile marketing applications of the technology. Building on the feature sets we developed for critical communications, our technology will enable content providers and mobile marketers to develop innovative products that push geographically targeted messages to subscribers. For example, traffic information can now be pushed to mobile phones based on the location of the subscriber. Media outlets that provide local information can now update that information based on the location of the subscriber and monetize that content with geographically relevant advertisements.

What is your business model?
Our customers are content providers in each category. As a hosted service, we currently charge an annual license fee based on the number of messages that the customer will send during the year. There is the possibility of having subscription supported content, and the service is set up to allow this, but we are not currently offering any of content in this fashion.

We do not “sell” to carriers but rather provide our software solution on their networks as a value enhancement for their subscribers. We have entered into partnerships with US carriers to jointly sell our solution to their customers.

What projects or special features are you preparing?
There are a number of enhancements on the product road map and I will group these in a three general areas: location refinement, transmission mechanism and functionality.Location Refinement – Currently we use the cell tower / sector to which phone is connected to determine the location. This provides a number of benefits including constant location (if the phone has coverage, it knows where it is), no need for commercial location equipment on the carriers side, and no battery drain. We have plans to increase the resolution and have put hooks into the application to use autonomous GPS, WiFi, or network based location technology. We have tested this on some US carriers but have not commercially deployed yet.

Transmission Mechanism – We are currently using point-to-point transmission mechanisms. The next generation cell networks will support features such as IP multicasting that will enable one message to be sent to all phones. As carriers deploy these technologies, we will be ready to implement which will dramatically increase the efficiency of our product for messages that need to be sent to large groups of subscribers. As with the rest of our technology, this technology is on the carriers’ roadmaps so it does not require additional capital expenditure on the carriers’ parts.

Functionality – We have a number of new features that will be added to the product. In addition to the location refinement, we will also be able to filter messages based on velocity or direction of travel. We are also incorporating mobile originated geographically targeted messaging (e.g., send a message to everyone in your buddy list that is within two miles of you to meet up with them.)

What is the future of LBS on mobile ?
We believe that the future of LBS on mobile is very bright. Ironically, three major drivers in the United States are the iPhone, open device access and non-phone portable navigation systems.
The iPhone is introducing a whole class of users to the non-voice call possibilities of phones. Even in the last few months we have seen this drive adoption of PDA or Smartphone type phones in the US and we expect the market share of advanced phones to triple over the next 18 months. Many of these phones will come loaded with location-based services and have unlimited data plans that will encourage adoption by subscribers.

Open access (traditionally US carriers have erected walled gardens that make it difficult for developers to deploy their applications) will make it easier for developers to create and deploy innovative applications without having to spend time and resources on carrier distribution. Google’s Android platform and other open source environments will help spur this trend.

Lastly, for location-based services specifically, the rapid price drop of non-phone portable navigation systems and corresponding adoption will spur subscriber demand for this category of service. This is currently the most popular (and most technically demanding) location-based application and the deployment of these services across all carriers will ease development of new applications.
Some limiting trends for LBS (in the US) include continuing concerns over privacy and the disparate location technologies adopted by the carriers. Privacy will continue to be a major concern for the US population for several years. Technologies that can guarantee privacy such as SquareLoop’s will help alleviate these concerns for some services. Carriers will also need to take extra-ordinary measures to help protect subscriber privacy for devices and applications they sell.

In the United States, each carriers has adopted different methods for location determination. This provides two major issues: 1) different levels of service are provided based on the carrier making it difficult for application developers to provide consistent functionality and 2) different interfaces will mean that application developers must develop separate interfaces and continually manage what carrier a subscriber is using. For content providers, this will dramatically increase the complexity of providing location based content. (SquareLoop manages this for our clients to eliminate this problem.)